Legislature(2001 - 2002)
01/24/2001 01:07 PM House RES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 48 - NO SOC SEC. # REQ'D ON HUNT/FISH LICENSE CO-CHAIR MASEK announced that the first order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 48, "An Act eliminating a requirement that a social security number be provided by an applicant for a hunting or sport fishing license or tag; and providing for an effective date." Number 0125 REPRESENTATIVE JOHN COGHILL, Alaska State Legislature, testifying as the sponsor of HB 48, pointed out the change in title from HB 311 to HB 48. Number 0180 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN made a motion to adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS), version 22-LS0295\F, Lauterbach, 1/18/01, as a work draft. There being no objection, Version F was before the committee. Number 0240 REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL submitted the HB 48 Social Security Number of Recreational Licenses sectional (in the bill packet), showing the portions that would be repealed: AS 16.05.360(a); [AS 16.05.360(b)]; AS 16.05.330(e); and AS 16.05.346(d). He referred to a letter in the bill packet from David Gray Ross, Commissioner, Office of Child Support Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, to Barbara Miklos, Director, Child Support Enforcement Division (CSED), Alaska Department of Revenue. He also referred to a press release by the [Office of Child Support Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families], which notes that [CSED] will obtain that waiver and no longer require social security numbers on fishing licenses, provided the statutes are repealed. Number 0418 REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL offered an amendment to the proposed CS. The amendment is as follows: Page 1, lines 12-13 Delete, "Each application shall be subscribed and sworn to by the applicant before an officer authorized to administer oaths in the state." REPRESENTATIVE KERTTULA inquired as to [ADF&G's] position on this issue. KEVIN BROOKS, Director, Division of Administrative Services, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), replied that ADF&G would be in support of the amendment. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN made a motion to report CSHB 48 from committee with a zero fiscal note and individual recommendations. [This motion was subsequently withdrawn.] MR. BROOKS said that the Department of Revenue and Representative Coghill understand and agree that [requiring social security numbers on fishing licenses] is not a legitimate tool for CSED due to the way the vendor system is set up. He suggested a practical solution of leaving the social security field on the application as an "optional" field, for the remainder of the year, in order to make use of the approximate half-million applications already in distribution. He reminded the committee that there is an online fishing license application that was established with the name and social security number fields, and thus this change to the system will be a challenge. The benefit of using a person's name and social security number is that it is a unique identifier and could be used to populate a person's information from the prior year. There have been suggestions to use a driver's license number, although not everyone has a driver's license. Therefore, he suggested exploring the option of leaving the social security field on the application as optional. Without a social security number, online applicants would have to fill out a new application each year. Number 0893 REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS asked why the social security requirement was ever initiated. MR. BROOKS explained that the requirement for social security numbers was initially put in use under welfare reform in order to deal with persons who are not paying child support. Many of the requirements dealt with occupational licenses. He explained that [occupational] licensure would be restricted if someone was in arrears with child support. The problem with this requirement on recreational licenses is that the state is not the vendor; there are 1,500 vendors across the state. Therefore, [the department] merely reports this information to CSED after the fact. Hence the requirement on recreational licenses was not an effective tool. Number 1015 REPRESENTATIVE KERTTULA brought up the subject of the federal waiver, and asked Barbara Miklos to speak about the possibility of losing the waiver in the future. BARBARA MIKLOS, Director, Child Support Enforcement Division, Department of Revenue, (CSED), clarified that originally, the requirement to collect social security numbers on hunting and fishing licenses was one of the requirements put forth by the federal government in order for CSED to receive federal funding for child support as well as all public assistance money, which equals approximately $80 million for the State of Alaska. The federal government granted the State of Alaska a waiver for the social security number requirement, which will expire in three years. Ms. Miklos stated that the reason the waiver was granted was because Alaska's unique permanent fund dividend (PFD) program provided the social security numbers of its residents, and she surmised that a waiver would probably continue to be granted as long as the PFD program existed. Number 1146 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN withdrew his motion in order to allow witnesses to be heard via teleconference. DENNY KAY WEATHERS, testifying via teleconference, noted his support of HB 48. She requested that HB 48 be amended to include noncommercial driver's licenses, commercial fishing permits, and crew licenses. She referred to [Governor Knowles'] press release number 01005, dated January 8, 2000, in which the governor states that the information provided on the PFD application is adequate for the needs of CSED. Ms. Weathers cited a memorandum from the deputy director of Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles, dated October 21, 1998, which stated that a United States citizen will not be allowed a nonwork status driver's license without a social security number, but a foreign alien can obtain a nonwork status driver's license without a social security number. Ms. Weathers was denied a driver's license. Furthermore, one of her family members has been arrested and charged criminally for [driving without] a license, [because that individual was also denied a license for not having a social security number]. She also noted that social security numbers are optional on the federal fisheries permit application, and asked why it is mandatory to have a federal number on a state permit, when it was not mandatory on a federal permit. REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS asked Ms. Weathers to clarify whether she herself did, or did not, have a social security number. MS. WEATHERS said she does not have a social security number, and neither does her son or her husband. She stated that [an Alaskan resident] is not required to have a social security number for nonwork status (for example, if he/she is self- employed, or living a subsistence lifestyle). Number 1489 REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL interjected, for those listening on teleconference, that HB 48 deals with only one issue. Although Representative Coghill personally doesn't think that the social security number should be used as an identification number, he pointed out that the state agreed to do so in return for federal funding. He reiterated that HB 48 is specific to removing the social security requirement from fish and game licenses, and suggested that [legislation] take "one step at a time." Number 1530 ERIC JOHN WEATHERS, a fourth-generation Alaskan, testifying via teleconference, said that he is a hunter, fisherman, and long- haul commercial truck driver. Because of the social security requirement on fishing and hunting licenses (as well as driver's licenses), he cannot legally fish, hunt, or work. He would like the requirement for social security numbers to be repealed, not only on fishing and hunting licenses, but on driver's licenses as well. DEAN CURRAN, commercial fisherman and 49-year resident of Alaska, testifying via teleconference, went on record as supporting HB 48. He doesn't want his social security number to be required on any State of Alaska document, including the PFD application. The social security number is a federal identification number for social security benefits. Mr. Curran stated that by requiring social security numbers on state documents, the state is making it easier for criminals to commit crimes against others by stealing their social security numbers. CO-CHAIR MASEK asked if there were any questions for Mr. Curran. There being no questions, Co-Chair Masek said the bill had already been discussed and amended. She requested a motion. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN so moved. REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS stated a point of order and asked if the committee needed to vote on the amendment. He asked if [the amendment] was accepted without a vote. CO-CHAIR MASEK said, "It was unanimous.... There was no objection." She asked, then, if there were any objections to moving the bill [version 22-LS0295\F, Lauterbach, 1/18/01, as amended], with a zero fiscal note, from committee. There being no objections, CSHB 48(RES) was moved out of the House Resources Standing Committee.
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